


Belief and Trust

by Eiris



Category: Five Nights at Freddy's
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-21
Updated: 2015-03-03
Packaged: 2018-03-08 12:01:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3208436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eiris/pseuds/Eiris
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mike Schmidt is hired at Freddy Fazbear's during a low point in his life. With meager pay, animatronics out to kill him, and a total mental breakdown looming in his future he finally reaches out for help from his twin sister. With the naive hope to make the animatronics see him as human, will he survive his nights at Freddy's? And if he does, then what lies ahead? Jumping into any situation uninformed is never a good idea.</p><p>Also on FF.net under Apathetic Sympathy</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Two Nights of Terror

**Author's Note:**

> General Disclaimer :: I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's nor am I receiving any form of payment for writing this story.
> 
> Also please note that I do have this posted on FF.net under Apathetic Sympathy. I decided to cross post the story here because truthfully I like AO3 a bit better than FF.net. I'll be releasing each chapter already published here within the next week or two after I go through them again and make minor edits. This story has really gotten away from me, but I really have enjoyed writing it so I thought I'd share it with you all here as well. n.n Please look to the end AN if you have any questions concerning the ships and mechanics of said ships.

Michael Schmidt had never thought himself to be anything special. He was as average as anyone could be, blending into the background and never sticking out. Being quieter than most, perhaps a little bit on the shy side, hadn't ever helped him make friends or land the better jobs. It could be said that his tendency to be a wallflower was the reason he was in the position he was; friendless, jobless, and unable to change that fact. Sometimes he wished he could be more like his twin sister, who looked so much like him, but was far better at interacting with others. The funny thing was that while she was able to be sociable she often chose not to, but at least she had a job to pay her rent.

He sighed as he went back to reading through the paper's job ads, going through each column with a sigh noting that three of the ads were actually jobs he previously held… before being fired that is. Running his hand through slightly greasy dark brown hair he let out another sigh. He was just about to admit defeat for the day when he saw a familiar image above an ad for a night guard.

Help Wanted

Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria

Family pizzeria looking for security guard to work the nightshift.

12 am to 6 am.

Monitor cameras, ensure safety of equipment and anamtronic characters.

Not responsible for injury/dismemberment.

$120 a week.

To apply call:

1-888-FAZ-BEAR

Mike remembered the old pizzeria his family used to frequent quite often. Their mother was sick, and so in an effort to cheer up his children every few weekends they would go to the Pizzeria. Other children in their grade would have their birthdays there as well, so they'd go quite a few times in a year. Both himself and Morganna, his sister, loved going there. Being naive children they talked to the animatronics and believed them to be sentient, to be their friends. Of course as they grew up they realized it hadn't been true, but the memories were happy none the less, bright moments in the darkness of their childhood.

With their mother being ill and her health only declining they watched as she got worse and worse up until the day of her death. Money issues were a large concern as well, their father working as much as he could while still visiting his wife and taking care of their children. There were nights they went to bed hungry, days when they didn't have a lunch to eat during school, but they made it through. So Mike wasn't new to being impoverished and barely getting by. After their mother's death the family had moved to a small rundown apartment in the next town over, so they never went to Freddy Fazbear's again. Eventually their father died too, literally working himself to death with multiple jobs as he attempted to pay of the accumulation of debt while still keeping himself and his children fed.

Mike shook his head of the thoughts, there wasn't any use dwelling on the past when he had his own current problems to worry about. Pulling out an old worn Nokia phone he punched in the number and hit send.

"Hello. You've reached Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, a magical place for children and adults alike. Business hours are between 9 am and 8 pm. How can I help you?" A tired teen voice sounded on the other end. Faintly he could hear some screaming children in the background, he winced, not envying her one bit at that moment.

"A-Ah yes, Hello. I was calling about the night guard position advertised in the paper," he stuttered, hoping he didn't sound too pathetic.

"Oh. Umm… Alright one moment," the girl on the other end said, pausing as if she wanted to say something for a moment before leaving him on the line.

"Hello? You're inquiring about the night guard position?"

"Yes, sir. I can come in for an interview at any time," he replied, again hoping that he didn't sound too pathetic or over eager.

"Oh, no need. You've got the job. Actually can you start tonight?"

"What? Oh, yes. I'm available to start tonight."

"Good, if you can get here by nine I can show you around the place, make sure you've got a handle on the basics of the job and draw up your contract. Just wear something casual for tonight. I'll give you a jacket to wear over it and you can wear the required uniform tomorrow night."

"Y-Yes sir, I'll be there at nine then," Mike finished, a grin on his face. It was a little strange he'd been hired so quickly, but he wasn't complaining. He needed the money, and getting to see the place after so long as sure to bring back some good memories. Checking the time he knew he had a few hours before he needed to get ready, but it didn't hurt to get an early start, he thought to himself as he headed to his bathroom. He definitely needed a shower if his greasy hair was anything to go by, he thought to himself with a grimace.

* * *

 

"Alright, you'll just want to sign there, there, and finally initial there," The man in front of him said, pointing out the lines to sign. Mike tried to skim the contract, but was assured that it was standard stuff and not wanting to make the man more irritated than he already seemed to be he just signed where he pointed.

"There we go! Welcome to the Freddy Fazbear Family. Now just so you know you have to work all five nights in order to be paid. Also anything regarding the company is not to be shared with any outside sources of course, unless you want to be risked being sued. Now, follow me and I'll show you around the restaurant," the larger man, who had introduced himself as Mr. Becker the current manager of Fazbear Entertainment, ushered Mike out of the room. He seemed in higher spirits after getting the contract out of the way.

Mike on one hand was glad to get the job and everything, but honestly couldn't believe how strange the whole situation was. Meekly he followed the man out into the hallway, listening has he pointed out the various rooms with cameras and mentioning that the kitchen had one, but only the audio was working currently.

"And here we have the stars of the restaurant," he said, waving his arm to the three animatronics. "Freddy Fazbear himself, Bonnie the Bunny, and Chica D. Chicken, they bring hope to many children Mr. Schmidt, so be sure to make sure nothing happens to them."

Mike nodded, "Of course sir."

"Good good, glad to hear it son. Now your office is this way. You should have no trouble figuring out the security system. You youngsters always know how to use the new technologies and all that. Oh, but be careful not to use too much power. Budget cuts have to be made, and so for the night we only allot a small amount of power to be used. The doors are precautionary for your safety, but they open if you use up on the power, so don't use them if you don't have to. And that's all you need to know. The day manager will be here at the end of your shift, so just let her in and you can leave. Good luck son. I'm sure you'll do great," The man listed off information so fast that it took everything Mike had follow it all and at the end he had a strange feeling. Everything about this job was just so strange so far. As soon as he was done the stuff he'd need was practically shoved into his hands before the man was out the door, the last one to leave for the night that Mike knew of, since he'd seen the cleaning crew leave about ten minutes ago.

He sighed, struggling not to drop everything as he made his way back to the security office. Dumping the pile of stuff in to the chair he sorted through it quickly. He pulled on the hat over slightly curly dark hair, but hung the jacket and rest of the security uniform on the back of the chair. It was summertime, and rather hot in the building. Thankfully a fan was already running on the desk to keep the air flowing at least. He pulled the new belt through his pants next, securing it and putting the torch and taser in the correct spots. Looking at the clock he saw it was only 11:30, not even midnight yet. He pulled of the messenger bag he'd brought with him and pulled out his water bottle. Noticing it was empty and knowing he still had half an hour left before his shift even started he went to the restrooms to fill it up with tap water.

On his way back to the office he stopped outside of Pirate's Cove for a moment. Reaching out to the curtains he started to pull them back before dropping them with a sigh. There was no more Foxy he was sure, not after that day in 1987. He was sure that the pizzeria had gotten rid of the pirate animatronic if only to try to prevent any further backlash from the public for that day. He didn't want to think about it anymore and moved back to his office.

When the clock struck midnight Mike jumped as the phone blared loudly. "Hello? I'm sorry but business hours are-"

"Hello, hello? Uh, I wanted to record a message for you to help you get settled in on your first night. Um, I actually worked in that office before you. I'm finishing up my last week now, as a matter of fact. So, I know it can be a bit overwhelming, but I'm here to tell you there's nothing to worry about. Uh, you'll do fine. So, let's just focus on getting you through your first week. Okay?

… Gotta conserve power. Alright, good night."

The message seemed to go on and on, with Mike increasingly feeling a strange cold spread through his being. What did he mean the animatronics wandered? What kind of programing would even tell them to stuff a person into one of their suits? How the heck could their programming not recognize that a person was a person regardless if it was day or night? Was this just a joke? He knew about the bite of '87 that the guard had mentioned… but everything else. It had to be a joke, it sounded far too surreal, but then… there was all the strangeness surrounding the job. The way the manager hadn't even asked for a resume and hired him over the phone, practically forced him to sign the contract without giving him a chance to read it. The whole situation was screaming something was very wrong and he was already in the thick of it though he wasn't quite aware of that just yet.

Checking the cameras he didn't see anything out of the ordinary until he reached the camera covering the stage.

"What!? Where's Bonnie. Is this… What is this?" He muttered under his breath as he flipped from camera to camera not finding Bonnie. Finally he found Bonnie in the supply closet, staring right at the camera. He shuddered, "What are you even doing in there Bonnie?"

An increase feeling of dread hit him as he heard shuffling in the hallway of some kind. Checking the cameras again he didn't see anything out of the ordinary, until he realized that Chica was nowhere to be seen this time. He checked the lights by the doors, not sure if the cameras had blind spots or not and was greeted with the animatronic chicken's face staring at him through the window. He froze for a moment, eyes wide before he slammed his fist over the door button.

He let out a choked noise as he continued to stare into her eyes before pressing the light button again with a shaking hand, turning it off so he didn't have to see her. He took a deep breath trying to calm down. Losing his composure could cost him his life. He had to treat this like… like a video game. He hadn't the time to play one in a long time… but he used to quite often. He could do this. Checking the clock he saw it was 3 am. Only three more hours of this, he could do it.

He checked the cameras often, making sure he knew where everyone was. The doors were open most of the rest of the night, Chica presumably in the kitchen for the rest of the night and Bonnie visiting three times before 6 am popped up. Checking the feeds he saw that the animatronics were all back in place and with a sigh of relief he wiped the sweat from his brow. His hands were trembling badly when he grabbed his stuff and headed towards the front door, only just glancing at the trio as he walked by nervously. He shifted his weight from foot to foot as he watched the day manager walk slowly from her car, he wanted nothing more than to run out the door and not look back.

He opened the door for her, noticing the incredulous look that crept onto her face.

"A-Ah Good morning… how was your night?" She managed to cough out as she entered the building.

"Rough, b-but I'll be back tonight," he stuttered out before quickly leaving, not awaiting a reply. He didn't want to come back, but again he needed the money. If he was being truthful he was curious as well, as to why the animatronics acted the way they did at night. He was still terrified to come back and when he got home and went to bed, the little sleep he got was riddled by nightmares of being grabbed and ripped apart or stuffed into one of the suits by one of his childhood friends.

The next night was no better. By one am both Bonnie and Chica were wandering around the restaurant. At three am Mike realized he had forty percent of battery left because he'd had to keep the doors down so often. The phone guy left another message that hadn't helped him out much. He'd already learned of the blind spots, the information would have been nice the previous night. He hadn't listened to most of the message this time, too busy tracking Bonnie who had left the stage as soon as it hit midnight.

He was sweating and trembling as he looked at the cameras and check the door lights. Jittery and bouncing his leg up and down, he realized that perhaps it was a mistake to drink so much caffeine before his shift. He stood up and walked around the chair, hoping that the jitters would leave so they didn't impair his concentration too much as he leaned on the back wall trying to breathe deeply to calm himself down again. He taped the tablet checking the cameras again before lowering it and taping on the lights again

He slammed the door down on the left again when he saw Chica's face through the window for the umpteenth time that night.

"Please give me a break Chica, this is just the second night," he sobbed out, not above begging in his terrified state.

Opening the door when he saw she'd gone away for the moment he heard something moving rapidly in the hallway and slammed the same door down again before seeing a familiar face pop into the room from the other still open door. A screech emitted from the animatronic fox the same time that Mike let out a scream and dropped the tablet all together.

Panicking he grabbed the chair he stood in front of and swung it at the fox and let go, the force pushing the animatronic back enough for him to slam down the door. His knees trembled and he fell to the floor in a heap, loud sobs ripping out of his throat as tears poured from his eyes. He flinched as the fox slammed against the door.

"I'm sorry Foxy, but I don't want to die!" He yelled almost hysterically out as the fox slammed against the door again. Biting back more sobs he shakily reached towards the tablet again, thankful to note that the drop hadn't broken it. If it had broken then he'd be dead, unable to know where any of the animatronics were until it would be too late, the thought churned his stomach and he tried to push it from his mind. Righting the chair he took a seat again and quickly opened the doors once he saw no one was there.

The rest of the night went past in a blur as he just barely managed to keep himself together. When the manager pulled up in her car he didn't bother to wait for her, rushing out without a word this time, barely hearing her stuttered greeting.

The first thing he did when he got home was call his sister, while they were on speaking terms and had a very good relationship, he didn't like to bother her. His life was continuing in a downward spiral, while hers went up, he didn't want to drag her down, but he needed her at that moment.

"Hello?" He couldn't have been happier to hear her cranky, 'why would you ever be up this early' voice.

"Morganna, I need you. I really, really need you right now. C-Can you please come over no- sometime today?" He stuttered out.

"It must be bad if you've abandoned the nicknaming nightmare. You still live in that shitty apartment?"

"Yes."

"I'll be over in half an hour."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty, this AN will differ just slightly from the one on Fanfic, because why not. Concerning the ships; Foxy and Mike are going to be in a romantic relationship, not a sexual one. I know its weird for some people regardless, but hey it's my story, so my ship. I will admit I'm a huge Mass Effect fan and therefore I will compare myself to Samantha Traynor in my love for sexy robot/AI voices. For some reason I always love the robots most, regardless of the voices. I actually told myself I wouldn't get into this fandom, but one fanfiction later and I'm stuck shipping something I didn't expect to ship because reasons. Expect a slow romance with a lot of hugging, forehead to forehead touching, and handholding. The on screen romance between Garrus and Femshep are pretty much my references for the schmoopy shit I have written. 
> 
> The other ship in this story is between two of my OFCs, this one was totally unintentional. It literally wrote itself, I don't even know. So yeah that happened. 
> 
> The last thing I have to say is that I would love it if you left some feedback. I am always open to comments, suggestions, and questions. I know my writing isn't terrible, but everyone can use improvement, so please do point out to me anything you see amiss. Thank you for reading and I hope your day or night is a wonderful one!


	2. Two Nights of Terror

That night was strange, instead of becoming aware at midnight exactly, it was about a quarter till when Foxy came fully online again. He was in a sort of sleep mode during the day, only actively online and aware when there was movement directly in front of him. He wondered what brought him online before he noticed curtains start to open before fluttering shut before they were fully open. It was… strange to say the least. Quietly he leaned out and just vaguely saw the back of a man. That was peculiar, considering that it was almost midnight and no humans stayed at the pizzeria that late.

At midnight the clock chimed and all other thoughts flew from Foxy's processor. It was, after all, just another night at Freddy Fazbear's. The humans were all gone and a lone endoskeleton would most likely be in the back office again, and if Foxy was being truthful he would admit that he quite enjoyed the chase they had going. Well, considering that he didn't do anything during the day any more it would be hard to imagine why he wouldn't like the chase. There wasn't much to do in the Pizzeria at night, since the others were too focused on the chase to talk and he doubted they had much to say to him anyway.

It wasn't that Foxy didn't get along with the others, they got on fine all things considered. Still, he felt like they didn't like him anymore. The more he thought about it, he wasn't sure they ever really liked him, especially considering the fact that he had never been a part of the band, just a side show that sometimes actually stole the show from them back when he did preform, before '87. It was his fault that they couldn't walk around anymore too, and while they didn't say anything, he knew they missed actually interacting with the children. While the thoughts sometimes plagued him it was unlikely he'd ever bring them up. Besides, even if he did suddenly get the urge to confront the band, well the game had everyone too busy. It was probably for the best anyway, he wasn't sure he would like the answers he'd receive.

It had been about two days since they caught the last endoskeleton and properly suited them up, and as always the endoskeleton had promptly stopped working. It was strange, all the endos that just never worked with the suit. Well regardless management always cleaned up the red oil they leaked and got rid of them, perhaps sending them back to where ever they came from before getting a new endo to replace it.

Peeking out of his curtain at midnight he watched the camera closely to see if there was a new endo watching just yet. It flickered on for a few moments before flickering off. If he could've moved his jaw a bit more it would have formed a rather fearsome grin. He probably wouldn't run out tonight, but he was excited for the next night. For now he'd hang back, remaining out of sight, maybe the endo wouldn't even know about him the next night if he was sneaky enough. 

Meanwhile onstage similar thoughts were going through the band's heads. Well, except for Chica, she just couldn't wait to get to kitchen. Of course she'd try to trip up the endoskeleton every now and then after she popped her special pizzas in the oven. She was so fast though, it wasn't hard for her to trip him up quite a few times during the night even spending most of it in the kitchen cooking.

Bonnie couldn't wait for the chase to start, only just managing to remain still. He was especially fond of the strange noises all the endoskeletons made, screeches and screams and whimpers. He could only scream, his vocal components weren't that advanced, they let him sing and talk, but other noises were a no. He wondered why so much work went into endos that never worked in their proper suits, but he wasn't in charge of the establishment.

Freddy was excited, but tired. Freddy was tired more often than not anymore. He loved the children, but they were becoming more and more rambunctious with each generation. Even though they weren't supposed to have physical contact with children any more, the day guard as of late wasn't very good at keeping the children back. Saucy hands would pull on their suits, small bodies would try to climb them too. It was worse than when they could actually walk around, perhaps because the children that did break the rules weren't exactly the best behaved.

So while Freddy was excited, he would rest for a bit. Bide his time and let the others have their fun. If they hadn't caught the endo in a few days he would start moving around. Besides he was quite content to just using his processor to pass the time, idly solving equations and reviewing new knowledge he had heard that day. They were self-learning after all, each new piece of information had to be processed to determine its truth. Though the others were less interested in his knowledge; Bonnie preferred only to go over new music related information and Chica only wanted to go over food related news unlike their leader who liked to know anything new to him. He was the eldest of the animatronics though. Foxy was the only one who would listen to his knowledge of history, but the fox rarely leaved the cove and only when there wasn't an endo. It concerned him a bit, but he never brought it up, unsure how to go about it.

As it struck midnight Bonnie was off leaving Freddy and Chica on stage. They had seen the manager talking to a man earlier that night, and whenever that happened they had a new endo in the office. Bonnie rarely wasted time leaving his post when he knew there was a new chase a foot. Perhaps it was because he was a bunny.

At 2 am Chica shifted a bit.

"You finally off to the kitchen tonight missy?" Freddy asked, amusement colouring his voice.

"Hey, my pizzas are way better than the staffs. So yeah, I'm off the kitchen. I'll probably pay our endo a visit too. Who knows maybe we can get him fast and find out if this one'll work," she replied. In truth she liked the chase mostly because there was a chance they'd have a new friend, even if none of the endos had worked in the as there was alway a possibility of the next one joining them.

"Well good luck then Chica, have fun with your baking. I'll be here," he said with a nod before turning to the camera, he'd discovered that it tripped up some of the endos when he stared at it for some reason. Chica nodded and with that she was off, quick as a whistle as always. Sometimes Freddy could swear that she was faster than Foxy.

So the animatronics did their thing for the night, grudgingly admitting defeat at a quarter to six. Bonnie and Chica returned back to the stage.

"Hey Freddy, I think you're going to have fun with this one. It's totally disjointed, but it picked up the patterns and managed to have quick reactions despite its weird garbly noises and shrieks," Bonnie chuckled.

"It sure did sound weird Freddy! It sounded almost like when one of the children start crying. How strange. It even leaked," Chica interjected as she took up her plate and cupcake for the night.

"That is… disturbing almost. I wonder if it's malfunctioning," the bear said with a shrug. The band fell silent after, six am rolling around and their sleep mode activating for the next few hours.

* * *

The next night Foxy woke up at midnight, as expected, but felt slightly… disappointed. That second of human contact the night before had been something he had dreamt of for a long while, even if he'd never admit it. Being in pirate cove was lonely, and while he could talk to the others just to stave off the feeling, his doubts stopped him more often than not. However, even if he was to talk to them, having contact with a human was different. It was in his program, to want to be loved and seen by humans. It had been so long since he'd performed or had contact with one. Though he'd just seen the man's back, it was the most contact he'd have with any human while active. Very rarely a mechanic would come and make sure he wasn't rusting, but it was during the day so he couldn't move, and most times they called him junk and didn't even do their job correctly.

If he'd been human he would sigh as he pushed the depressing thoughts from his processor and instead focused on the fact the chase was starting for the night. Starting to peek out of his curtain he could hear both Bonnie and Chica talking on stage.

"So how about it Chica? Wanna double team tonight? If we catch him quick you can spend the rest of the night cooking," Bonnie was telling Chica, his voice all excited.

"I guess it could be fun. But I'm still going to be cooking. I heard the boss say we've got three party's booked for tomorrow, so I want the birthday children to have my special pizza," Chica replied with a shrug.

"Oi, don't be forgetting about ol' Foxy lad. This pirate might just be the winner tonight. The endo hasn't even checked me cove yet and it's nearly one," he interjected, receiving a grin from Bonnie.

"Oh you're on, you old fox. I'll win for sure though, I've got this one in the bag." Bonnie replied with assurance and a larger grin than normal upon his face as he went off towards the security office. Chica stopped in the kitchen first, as always, but was quickly out on quite a few occasions.

The night progressed, and still the endo had yet to check the cove. Foxy progressed through his his movements, first moving back the curtain, then taking a step out, before fully being out of pirate cove. He waited another few minutes before finally rushing off down the corridor quickly, metal feet clinking on the tile loudly. Bonnie sighed and moved out of his way quickly, actually hoping the endo would shut the door so he didn't lose to the fox again.

Foxy braced for a semi painful slam against metal when heard one of the office door close loudly, but it hadn't been the one in front of him, so with a long and loud triumphant screech he entered the office. Though strangely enough the guard hadn't been sitting like most. The guard too started screaming as he saw Foxy, dropping the tablet thing that belonged to the office.

Foxy lunged forward, attempting to grab the endo, only to be shocked when the endo grabbed the chair in front of him and slammed it into him before letting go, the force of the blow forcing him back out into the hallway, chair falling to the floor with a clatter still in the office. Shocked and his metal frame strangely aching he registered the door closing. He snarled and slammed himself into the door a few times after getting up. He felt angry for once, the endo had hurt him, and it wasn't like he could be fixed if he broke.

He slammed against the door a last time, hearing the muffled sobs from within. His anger evaporated and instead was replaced by puzzlement. Why was the endo crying? How could the endo cry? They could all feel sadness, but crying wasn't possible. Why did the endo cry like one of the children? Surely that wasn't a new design, it would be strange to have a crying animatronic.

"I'm sorry Foxy, but I don't want to die!" The endo yelled out strangely. If Foxy could have, he would have frowned. Why was this endo acting so differently from the rest. Most of them screamed profanities that shouldn't have been known by the children friendly animatronics, but parents said them and it wasn't hard to find out the meanings from the workers of the restaurants so it wasn't all that strange. This however, was different. Looking into the office from the window he could see a strange liquid run down the endo's face, and with that Foxy left.

Returning to pirate cove, he kept his curtains closed, thinking about the strange endo. Why would the endo think he was going to die? They didn't exactly die after all, since they weren't living. Besides, how could it know that the other endos had all stopped working when being put into a suit. Then there was that liquid and crying. Was it malfunctioning? Foxy felt something odd about the situation.

As six am approached the others returned to their positions, Chica's pizzas just finished and sitting in the refrigerator for the cooks to warm up for the birthday children. While she hadn't caught the endo she was glad she had finished cooking everything she needed to that night. Bonnie was disappointed, since he hadn't caught the endo, but he was glad he hadn't lost to Foxy. All three band members were oblivious to the fact that Foxy had been forced out of the office by this endo. There wasn't any time to bring it up now, but Foxy decided that before they started the game the next night he'd tell them about his strange experience with the new endo. In the mean time he'd try to piece together the puzzle that was the current situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading! I know this chapter wasn't much this time. u.u Before this story spun out of control it was only supposed to be around eight short chapters. I actually wrote this right before I published the story about a month ago, having quite a bit written before I posted anything up. I'm quite glad I wrote it though, since it was definitely beneficial to get out exactly why the animatronics are after Mikey and their feelings and thoughts on the situation. Anyway there are a few minor edits to the chapter, but not too much.
> 
> Thank you again for reading! Have a wonderful day or night!


	3. Bright Morning

Morganna Schmidt was far from ordinary, if only because she rejected the idea of such a thing. Opinionated and blunt, it wasn't that she couldn't make friends, but she chose not to. Socialising was easy enough for her when she wanted it to be, unlike Mike she wasn't shy nor did she have any sort of anxious feelings towards talking to others, but she was easily irritated. Few people didn't irritate her, the main one being her brother. Okay, that was a lie, he did irritate her, but in the way that she wanted to help him, not punch him in the face.

Unlike her brother who was overly concerned about others, without even realizing it to boot, she focused on her own achievements. In high school they both got jobs to support themselves after their father's death, and Morganna had made sure to get ones that would further what she wanted to go into; freelance programming projects, working at the local library and reading the books while she worked, getting a job as a late night gas station attendant so she could continue to read on her shift while still getting paid. Sure she didn't get much sleep, but she had enough money to put herself through school and keep food on Mike and her plates. Sleep was for the weak, and those that could afford it, and Mikey. She was the older sister (by a few minutes) after all.

Now that isn't to say Mike didn't work a lot as well, but he often got tied up in volunteer work, group projects, and weird shifts that ended with him getting stiffed hours. He was simply both a more selfless person than her, and she did freely admit she was quite selfish, as well as being more of a passive force to her more pushy nature. He'd gone to college, got all the basic classes done, but when push came to shove he didn't know what he wanted to do with his life, never giving it much though. One year off became two, then three and then they were both twenty-two years old before either one of them knew it. Morganna became a robotic engineer and Mike was still stuck, unsure of what he should do with his life.

Her brother was in a tough spot presently, but she knew he had to figure out what to do for himself; still she tried to offer support, asked if he wanted to live with her for a while, and he was always stubborn enough to refuse, stating he didn't want to be a burden. If she was truthful she worried about her brother quite often, knowing that sad state of the apartment he lived in, his lack of friends and lack of direction in life. He always brushed off her concern though, and she never pushed it. Unfortunately time flew, one month of not seeing him became two, and then it had been months since she'd seen him last and that unsettled her a bit too.

Michael Schmidt was all around hopeless, but he was still her twin brother and the only one she really truly cared about in the world. So when she got a call from him, hearing him stutter and his voice tremble, she knew something was very wrong. He never called her for help, didn't want to bother or trouble her. The fact that he was this time met something was very, very wrong.

Riding her motorcycle to his apartment was quick and easy in the early hours of the morning, passing by cars going too slowly for her taste before finally parking on the curb in front of his apartment complex. Pulling the helmet from her head, dark brown wavy locks emerged messily, frizzy because she hadn't bothered to brush it. She even still wore her Iron Man pajama pants tucked into leather laced up boots and the matching shirt was covered by a matching leather jacket. Having only got into bed at three in the morning herself, getting up at seven was hell in itself and she was not getting dressed to see her brother. She'd have come in her undergarments if she hadn't been wearing anything that night, thankfully for him it was chilly enough at night for her to wear somthing to bed.

Walking into the building and up the steps to his floor she felt an increasing worry settle itself in her breastbone. The feeling only increased as she knocked on the door and was met with her brother's tired face. Tear trails were visible, smudged but there, and his whole body was minutely trembling.

After opening the door he practically launched himself at her and started sobbing, settling in the fact that something had gone horribly wrong. She held him in shocked silence before regaining control of herself and maneuvering them into his apartment and shutting the door behind her. Moving him to the couch she let him cry as he moved closer to her, his tears and snot most definitely getting into her hair. She grimaced, but continued to rub his back, muttering calming words.

Finally after what seemed like an eternity the sobs quieted and turned to deep breathing. She groaned, he fell asleep and she couldn't wake him after that sob fest. Closing her eyes she reluctantly got comfortable before forcing herself to fall back asleep in the strange position, she was tired too after all and answers would come soon enough.

* * *

"-ganna, Morg. Come on Anna, it's three in the afternoon," Mike said, lightly tapping his sister's cheek. He smiled as she grumbled in response.

"Five more minutes, and quit with the nicknames dumb ass."

"Five minutes actually means an hour with you. I-I actually need to talk with you though, about why I called you over," he replied. His voice started out fine, amused even, before he brought up the fact he needed to speak with her, stuttering over his words as though he dreaded to speak about what caused him to break down so badly, which he did. It concerned Morganna more than she would ever say though, and she forced herself to sit up and roll her stiff shoulders back.

"Ugh. Your couch is not comfortable. I don't suppose I can get some tea to wake me up before we start this discussion?" She asked, yawning and stretching at the same time as she spoke. Mike was pretty used to understanding her garbled morning speech though.

"I didn't wake the dragon without tea prepared," he said with a strained chuckle and hand her the cup he previously set on the rickety coffee table before he had tried to awaken her.

"You, Mikey, are a godsend," she muttered out as she took the cup and inhaled deeply before sipping it. "You got it right, even after a few months of not seeing me. Ohh Mikey you do care," She said, while subtly pointing out her displeasure of not seeing her brother.

"Yes well," he began with a cough, "I got a new job on Monday."

"Really? Doesn't excuse months of not seeing your twin sister, you know you can always ask for my help, don't you? I mean, I know I'm not the nicest person in the world, or the most understanding, but you're my brother. I-" she stopped and sighed. "I care about you alright? I worry, especially when you don't talk to me except through a few emails. Emails that literally tell me nothing about how you've been doing, because you say you've been doing fine, but clearly you haven't. Fine never means fine when it's you saying it Michael."

"Morg-"

"No, shut up. You haven't been doing fine. Look at this place, you've had to have sold most of your good furniture, the place is falling apart. And look at you Mikey! I think you've lost at least twenty pounds since I've last saw you and you were underweight to begin with. Finally you call me and you sound so out of your mind with panic and terror… I don't even know where to begin. It must be something really big that you finally swallow your pride or whatever it is that keeps you from reaching out to me all this time to actually give me a call," She finishes icily. Seething she watches her brother shrink under her heated gaze.

"I- I didn't realise. I'm so-"

"No, you don't get to apologise. Your apology to me can be you actually reaching out to me when you need to from now on," she cut him off again. She sighed and let the anger slowly go as he nodded, looking thoroughly scolded. "Now, what has you so scared?"

"That job that I mention I got? It's a Night Security job at Freddy Fazbear's-"

"Wait- Freddy's? Really? That place is still in bus-"

"Yes, would you please stop cutting me-" he started, before being cut off again, glaring at his sister in that moment, terror forgotten for the moment in favour of irritation.

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry baby brother," she replied with a grin as he sighed in exasperation.

"A few minutes does not make me your baby brother. Younger brother, sure, baby no. Anyway, this is going to sound crazy. You remember the animatronics?" he asked, wringing his hands as he finally sat on the couch rather than standing in front of his sister. She turned towards him, folding her legs under herself and placing the now empty cup back on the shoddy coffee table.

"Yeah, course I remember the animatronics Mikey. They're essentially why I chose to go into robotic engineering. Plus you remember '87," she said, leaning back and moving her legs again, putting her feet into her brother's lap.

"Yes well… they- remember how they used to walk around during the day? Before '87?" He asked again.

"Yes, yes. I remember quite well, my memory isn't that bad Mikey," she huffed, getting impatient.

"Well- there was that time you forgot my birthday Morg, and yours is on the same day so that shouldn't even be possible," he pointed out.

"Hey! It was one time and I had three deadlines to meet," she shot back with a pout that made him laugh. He fell quiet for a moment after that though, until she spoke his name again. "Mike?"

"They walk around at night. There were some messages recorded by the previous Night Guard, he said it was some free roam program to keep their servos from locking up. They- he said they think the Night Guard is an endoskeleton and it's against the rules for one to be out of their suit. So they- they stuff the Guards into one and- you can't- you can't live in one of those things. Too many components I guess. But he- he mentioned that the management just- just cleans up the bodies. That it's happened before and after everything is cleaned up they issue a missing persons report after ninety days. Morg you have to believe me, the animatronics, they move around the restaurant trying to get into the security office. And-" Mike stared speaking at a normal pace, before he speed up, stuttering over his words before he cut himself off with a sob. He took a deep breath before continuing.

"Foxy got in last night. The sound he made, it was terrifying enough without the fact he lunged at me, his hook slashing towards me- I was lucky I was standing up. I wasn't thinking when I grabbed the chair and rammed it into him. S-Somehow the force threw him out into the hallway and I slammed the door down. He rammed into the door a few more times before finally leaving. I barely lasted last night, and it's only the second night Morg. I didn't even know that Foxy was still active. I- I didn't listen to phone guy's full message, Chica and Bonnie were already on the move and he started out with some information I had learned the previous night. So I- I was so stupid. I could've died, I was so close to dying, oh- oh god," he gasped, sobbing openly again. He buried his face into his hands as he sobbed, ashamed to be crying like a child again in front of his sister, but also feeling the terror of almost losing his life again.

Morganna swallowed, pulling her feet off of her brother and shifting to lean over him, rubbing circles into his back again like she had the night before, like she had when he woke from nightmares when they were children.

"Mikey, it is hard to believe…" she said, trailing off. She flinched when he raised his puffy stricken eyes to hers. "But I believe you. You aren't a liar and we've always believed there was something strange about the animatronics."

"W-What if they really are sentient, like we used to believe? That they're programming really does force them to see me as an endoskeleton. What if somehow I could get them to remember me? Or maybe you could reprogram them so they don't see me as an endoskeleton. Or- I don't know. I- I can't quit this job Morg. I have to go back. I have a contract to work there five days and… even if you helped me out I need the money," he rambled before ending his speech with a defeated sigh.

"Mike… what did you do?" Morganna asked, her eyes narrowing.

"I-I didn't do anything. I just, might've taken out a loan to pay for rent," he stuttered out, he looked away, biting his lip.

"Let me guess, it isn't exactly a loan from a bank. Seriously Michael? You could be hurt- oh wait you're already in a dangerous situation with your life on the line because you didn't just ask for help," she exclaimed, plopping back on the couch and bringing her hands up to her face to press against her eyelids with a sigh.

"I know. I'm sorry I didn't- I just didn't want to bother you. You had everything going up, and I didn't want to make you worry. Plus your detective boyfriend didn't exactly like me," he added, hoping that would help his case. Her head snapped up, eyes glaring at him again making him shrink under her gaze for the umpteenth time that morning.

"Really Mike? If you actually spoke to me instead of those shitty emails, you'd know that first off, that douchebag was a liar, he was a regular street cop. Second off, I dumped him the night after you met him. Nobody treats my brother badly if they wanna be with me," she said flippantly. "So that's not an excuse. No more of that shit, seriously Mikey. You need me, pick up a phone."

"Wait- how did you find out he was lying about being a detective if you dumped him right after I met him?" He asked, curiosity pulling his attention away.

Morganna blanched at the question for a moment, her cheeks puffing out as a pout formed on her face. "He might have," she paused with a sigh "followed me around for weeks giving me tickets for minor street violations after I broke up with him."

Mike tried not to, but ended up laughing. "I told you that if you were dating a cop you'd have to change your driving habits. But he seriously followed you around? Let me guess, you got him back good for that."

"Of course. He is no longer employed by the city and I didn't have to pay a single one of those tickets since his calls were questioned since what he did was a serious breach of protocol and an abuse of his power," she said with a certain amount of satisfaction. "But back to the matter at hand Mikey. Do you have a plan?"

"Sort of. I'm hoping maybe to talk to the owner again. Maybe I can convince him to hire you as a mechanic, or at least get him to let you come in to reprogram them," he said with a shrug. "Maybe you can go in and take a look at Foxy later today? I kind of… broke his jaw more when I threw a chair at him to get him out of the office."

"You seriously feel bad about hurting the animatronic fox that was trying to _kill you_? Then again I shouldn't be surprised, it's hopeless little Mikey I'm talking about," she said with a dramatic sigh as she leaned back a bit more on the couch and lifted a hand to her head. "Seriously little brother, you are hopeless."

"Hey- Ugh just- Foxy was your favourite too," he said, fighting a pout off of his face.

"Yeah, but I still would feel no remorse for hurting someone or something that was trying to kill me. But anyway, I guess that's all I can do today. Foxy's still away in Pirate's Cove right? Shouldn't be much to stop me from sneaking behind the curtains and taking a look at him I guess," she started before looking at him in worry. "But still- there isn't much I can do to curtail their murderous… ness before tonight. If it's as bad as you say, well it sounds like it's just going to get harder."

"It- It probably will. I don't have a plan other than to just be vigilant. You can't be there Morg, there is not telling what they'd do if there were two of us," he said with a frown.

Morganna frowned back, it was true, there was no telling how the animatronics would react to two endoskeletons, but odds were they would break the pattern that they'd formed and that would just make things more difficult.

"Fine, I don't like it, but I'll stay home and write out some preliminary code for their programs or something. Just stay safe Mikey. Take no chances. If you have to damage one of the animatronics do so. I'll take care of any damage costs," she said with a nod. He nodded back and for the moment she was satisfied.

Suddenly Mike was in her arms again, only this time there was no sobbing or tears. He smiled a bit when she wrapped her arms around him in response. A small smile graced her face as well, for while she was concerned and irritated with her brother she still loved him. Mike felt the same, sure she was a bit over protective, but he loved her prickliness and all too.

"I missed this."

"Me too Mikey."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited only a little bit from it's ff.net version. Mainly I just added some words and fixed a few mistakes I came across. Thanks so much for the kudos and kind comments!~ I'm really glad to hear you guys are liking everything so far. I hope you enjoy Mikey and Morg, they are both really fun to write together. They actually are partially based off of the youtubers and streamers I've watched play fnaf in the past. Mikey is inspired by those who were more fearful in their reactions, while Morg is based off of those who were a bit tougher. So yeah. Anyway I hope that you'll continue to enjoy the story. More will be up soon! I'm mainly just juggling between reading over the old stuff and coming up with new stuff. Anyways, thank you everyone and I hope your day or night is a lovely one!
> 
> *AND OHMIGOD my keyboard is being dumb. I keep finding words missing an e lately. For some reason either I am being dumb and not pressing the e hard enough, or my keyboard is acting up. Actually the i is hard to press too, I'm blaming the keyboard. Please excuse random missing letters, I'll find and fix them all eventually. Sorry everyone! xP


	4. Evening of Threats and Realisations

Getting into Freddy's wasn't hard. No one gave her a second look, even if she didn't have a child with her. Sneaking into Pirate's Cove? Even easier, since all she had to do was slip underneath a curtain rather than opening a door. It was a little late, but she wanted to at least do something to help her brother out for this night. There was about fifty minutes until the restaurant would close, and perhaps surprisingly to some, the restaurant was still quite active. Freddy's closing show would start soon and many children often begged their parents to stay just that little bit longer. Heck, she could remember Mikey and herself doing the same thing when they were kids.

She looked around Pirate's Cove wistfully, remembering when it was clean and actually being used for shows. Everything showed how much the place had been through, how much time had passed, paint peeling from the old pirate ship and treasure chests, gold coins still scattered and only a few glittered somewhat in the shadows. She frown when she saw Foxy and the tears in his suit. Sure he was a little beat up back then too, but now there were clear holes that you could see his endoskeleton through.

"Hey Foxy," she started, looking at the seemingly deactivated animatronic with a bit of fondness for the old battered animatronic. He had been her and Mikey's favourite when they were children after all, even after the events of '87.

"Not sure if you can hear me, but I'm going to talk anyway. I'm not exactly sure what the circumstances are, but you gave my brother quite the fright last night. Normally I'm all for scaring Mikey, but making him fear for his life, that's a no-no. Mikey's the Night Guard here. The only human in the building after dark, back in the office, he's not an endoskeleton," she said bluntly, getting to the points she wanted to make quickly, as she surveyed the damage to his jaw and took note of the state of the rest of his body.

"I'll have to take a look at your programing at a later date, but I'm not even sure why that would be programmed in. Sooner than later I guess, but there isn't any time right now. Mikey will be back tonight, refuses to quit. He's a bit naïve, he believes you guys will remember us, from when we were children. When we were children you seemed… truly alive, like you weren't just preprogrammed responses. I'm not sure how true that is, but here I am, talking to you, so I must believe it a little," she continued on as she worked on his jaw, unscrewing bolts and screwing new ones in. She continued working in silence for a while before she spoke again.

"Just know, that if you hurt him in any way, I will make sure that you and the others are destroyed circuit by circuit. I don't care if you are sentient or not, he is my brother and I will absolutely destroy anyone or anything that dares to hurt him. I'll make sure those behind this company get what they deserve as well, I promise you that. If you don't want that, well then just make sure to stay away from anything resembling an endoskeleton tonight and pass it onto the others. If you don't, or you can't hear me, oh well. Mikey didn't know what he was going into when he took this job either."

She stood up, wiping grease on her hand from a rag before shuffling around the animatronic, and squatting down again, unzipping the suit with a bit of difficultly to get a look at the main access panel. She frowned, noting that it was screwed on tight, nothing that she couldn't take a part, but something that would most likely require time and light, both of which she was short on.

"Damn. Well, it looks like my warning is all you get presently. I'll take a look at your programing another day then, there's not enough time now. Just… remember what I said Foxy, hopefully you actually are sentient, or at least a learning artificial intelligent who is actually active now. If not, oh well I guess," she said with a sigh.

She stood up again after zipping up his suit properly again. She let out another long breath, "I hope Mikey's right about you guys," she muttered to herself before turning away, only to stop immediately when she heard the curtains rustle and sniffles.

Looking at the entrance to Pirate Cove she saw a little girl, her red hair disheveled and pulled loose from the pigtails they once were. Her knees drew up and she sniffled quietly, not noticing that anyone was there.

"Hey there, what's your name?" She asked, sitting down beside the girl.

"Edith. Edith Sin- ouch!" The little girl began before Morganna flicked her in the forehead.

"Hey didn't your mom ever tell you not to talk to strangers? Let alone give your full name out. Kid come on, don't they teach stranger danger is schools?" She questioned, shaking her head. "Just this time you're safe, but you gotta be careful kid. The world is crazy. You should know though, since you're crying. Is some kid picking on you?"

The girl pouted at the lecture and looked away before finally answering. "Yeah… the boys in my grade keep making fun of my name. It's an old lady name, and I don't like it either, but it's the name daddy gave me," she said with another sniff.

"How about a nickname then? Like… Edi! There's a game me and my brother loved with a character who was actually a computer of sorts who had that name. Or you could go by a middle name. When you get older you might actually really like your name. Don't dislike your name because others tease you about it. The only opinion that matters about yourself is yours," she finished, giving the other girl's shoulder an encouraging squeeze.

"Someone told me that a long time ago. I got hassled about my name too, except no one wanted to use my full name, they wanted to shorten it or make a joke about it. Actually that old sea fox behind us is the one that told me that," she said with a smile as the girls eyes grew wide.

"He did?"

"Yeah, a long time ago he used to help me and my brother out like this a lot. I'm hoping to get him fixed, so maybe he can help out kids like you, like he did for me and my brother again. Plus he tells some pretty amazing Pirate stories."

"Wow! I hope he gets fixed, he sounds awesome!" The little girl exclaimed as the woman peaked out from the curtain, coast was still clear.

"Welp, how about me and you go find your mum now you're feeling better hmm? I think Freddy's show is going to start soon," she said with a smile, holding the young girls hand and helping her from the stage. Finding her mother wasn't hard and before she knew it she was back on her way to Mike's apartment, but not without turning and looking all three bandmates in their eyes in hope to convey a message, or rather a threat. Hopefully they were unaware of their actions and Foxy had heard her.

Morganna felt uneasy, which wasn't something she felt often. Confident to almost a fault she rarely felt thrown off by anything, but her brother in danger was one such thing that threw her. If she'd had more time she could pester him into letting her come with him, or at least come up with some kind of failsafe, maybe a device that let out a small grade EMP to shut them down? But there wasn't any time. It was nearing when Mike would get to work and he would not appreciate her going against his wishes. If there wasn't a chance that she could get them both killed by showing up, she'd risk it. As it was though, he was right for once, there was a chance that the animatronics would change their patterns and perhaps just make them run out of power.

Maybe she could at least hack into the pizzerias' camera system… it would give her something to do while she worried at the very least, it was unlikely she'd sleep again that night anyway. There was still a bit of time before then however, so maybe she should go and do some grocery shopping, since it was obvious Mikey wasn't eating right. She hated grocery shopping though, oh the things she would do for her brother. She turned down the street heading toward the supermarket with a chuckle, he didn't know how wrapped around his finger she really was. She didn't even cook for herself after all.

* * *

Coming online during business hours was something that very rarely happened, since no one was allowed in pirate cove. Every now and then a child would sneak behind the curtain to get a look at him, but the almost immediately left if they were alone. If they were a group, well that was a unfortunate day for the old fox. Some of the older children enjoyed seeing the slowly falling apart robot and help the process along. Patches of his suit were gone because of harsh treatment. Thankfully those types were typically loud enough to be caught pretty fast and removed from the premises.

However, he'd never had an adult visitor during business hours. Sure the mechanic took a look at him every now and then, but that was always in the morning before opening or at night after closing. To have a woman step up into pirates cove was a strange sight to come online to.

"Hey Foxy," the woman said. He couldn't see her well, the darkness only showing shadows of her face. He could activate his low light mode, but that would make his eyes glow, alerting the woman that he wasn't as deactivated as he seemed, and that was probably a bad idea, all things considered.

Still, the fact that she knew who he was, even after all the years of being written off of all the branding the company did… she must have come to the pizzeria as a child. If that was the case though, why was she in Pirates Cove? He was under the assumption that anyone who knew about the bit of '87 was terrified of him, based on the reactions of that day and the days after.

When she started talking though, which helped explain a few things… that actually just confused him more.

Firm hands grasped his jaw, moving it back into place and seemingly looking to see what was wrong with it. He felt threatened though, like perhaps the human was going to hurt him, not that he'd be able to feel physical pain, but still he wasn't immortal. Her tone was, at first friendly, before turning darker. She spoke of someone he scared, her brother apparently, but when she mentioned that he was there, after dark, that's when he felt confusion take over, pushing all thoughts of her threatening tone aside.

No one was supposed to be in the restaurant after close, yet he'd seen that man with the manager a few days before. That had been a strange occurrence, but then she went on to say he wasn't an endoskeleton. How would she know about them? He'd never…. Had he seen her before? He was fairly certain he had not. But she knew him by name. Was she one of his matey's all grown up? But then, why was she fixing his jaw? If she was, she'd know he was dangerous, that his jaw perhaps shouldn't be usable after the incident of '87.

Her hands moved quickly, lubing up joints and unscrewing old rusty screws and replacing them and adding in new ones for those that had been lost. It was, well it felt good to be fixed for once. Still, most of the thoughts running through his processor remained unanswered and only caused more questions to be formed.

The threats were actually almost frightening, if only because of the low calm and brewing protectiveness that lilted through her voice as she spoke, but still he felt more confusion than anything else. She stopped talk and got up, leaving his field of vision, cursing when she realized she wasn't able to access his main CPU without more time, and perhaps light, since he realised she probably couldn't see well in the dim light behind the Pirate Cove curtains.

He still had no idea who she could possibly be, until she muttered something about 'hoping Mikey was right'. That- that made all other processes stop. Mikey? He- there were a few Mikeys he recalled fondly, but only one that he remembered above all others. He had very few children he specifically called his First Mate, but there was one. One with a sister he also called First Mate, since they were twins after all and it would be unfair to play favourites with two so close. His processes stopped again when a child's sniffle was heard.

He watched the woman approach the child, wishing that he could do so with all of his being. A crying child always called out to him, to help, protect, comfort. Perhaps it was just his programming, but he'd always been better at it than the others. Freddy tended to give advice that sometimes hit home, but it was just as often that he missed the mark. Bonnie was a nightmare when it came to crying children, having no idea what to do at all other than just stand there and offer a hug. Chica always tried to solve every problem with food, giving more pizza or a cupcake to a crying child. Each worked at times, not at others, but Foxy got down on the same level as the children. He used to listen and let the child vent, then gave advice if the child hadn't come to a conclusion on their own, and then physical comfort when needed. A toy was a last resort for a child who maybe didn't even know why they were sad. Overall he just tended to help the children easier than the others, though it had been so long since he'd been able to.

Listening to the woman talk to the little girl, while she was perhaps a bit abrasive, she took a similar approach. Talking to her while being the adult, letting her know that she shouldn't talk to strangers before comforting her. It was an interesting approach but it worked, and as soon as she said that the 'old sea fox' had told her that advice, he was absolutely positive that the woman in front of him used to be little Morganna, and what Mikey she spoke of was her twin, and that they'd grown up so much and came back. It- it was something to be remembered, it felt-

He felt elated, like nothing was wrong in the world, when the young girl turned back to look at him, happiness in her eyes and praise on her lips. To be looked at like that again, it was what he wanted more than anything else.

The woman, Morganna he remembered now, left with the child in hand and he felt no worry. She was one of his first mateys and it seemed like she'd grown into a fine adult. Still a bit of a grump no doubt based on her tone of voice and words, but not one who was irresponsible it seemed. Especially since she was still looking out for Mikey, who he just realized with a terrible feeling, was the one who they'd been trying to stuff into a suit the past two nights.

That was when confusion started pouring through his processor once again, why was a human in the office now? Why switch and yet they still saw an endo? It was disconcerting, but it did explain the strange noises and leaks that the endo had been making the past few nights. Mikey had never been the bravest soul, sweet and well-mannered yes, but certainly not very courageous. He'd been the voice of caution on stage when things might've been getting a bit rowdy. If that- if it was Mikey they were scaring so badly, his thoughts stopped there. He felt terrible, guilt wracking through him, how could he not have realised it? Mikey was his first matey, adult or not. It was Mikey back there, no if ands or buts about that. He remembered when he was forced out of the office the hysterical apology, only Mikey would feel it necessary to apologise when he was scared to death of dying. Being stuffed into one of their suits would definitely kill a human.

Slowly his processes started shutting down, his main processor shutting down and returning to the offline mode he was supposed to be in. His last processed thoughts were that he had to let the others know what a terrible mistake they'd made with the recent endo, that it was actually his little Mikey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I flubbed a little on this chapter. Everywhere else in this story I had made sure to keep things low tech, even going so far as to look up dates for the things I reference, and for some reason my brain didn't even realise the Mass Effect reference it slipped in doesn't make any sense. But you know what I like it, so fuck it, it's staying. At the very least it's a pretty ambiguous reference. I'm treating it like a senseless easter egg, like the krogan head randomly mounted on a wall in Dragon Age Inquisition. [There is one somewhere in a study. I barely saw it and when I did I was like O.O WHAT] But yeah. I'm a huge dork for both new and old stuff, so I have to basically check all the dates. I want to make too many little references I guess. u.u
> 
> Sorry everyone, excuse my language and stupidity please. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and continue enjoying the story. As always have a very lovely day or night!


	5. Night of Bewilderment

Getting ready for his shift was the easiest part of his night really. Mike got a shower, got dressed, ate some tasteless stale bread that thankfully hadn't gone moldy just yet, and then he was out the door to what was sure to be another terrifying night. Morganna had left a few hours ago, but most likely had returned to her apartment after stopping at the pizzeria. Maybe something she did or said got through to Foxy, regardless he couldn't take any chances.

The drive to Freddy's was far shorter than he felt it should be. Entering the Pizzeria his hands started shaking a bit, he clenched them at his side. The cleaners were still there, wiping down tables and sweeping the floor, eyes clearly looking anywhere but the messy stage. It was clear that they wouldn't go near the band, and though he didn't blame them, he couldn't help but feel a bit bad for the band, considering all of the gunk that had collected on their forms and the floor around them.

Checking his watch he noticed it was only half past ten. He could have sworn it was later. Biting his lip he fought with himself before walking over to one of the cleaners, an older man with greying hair who was mopping up what appeared to be spilled soda.

"Uhh- hi. I was won-" he began, before quickly being cut off.

"What do you want? Who are you anyway, can't you see we're busy?" The man asked grumpily, his quick pace of cleaning not changing. Mike frowned when he noticed that the man was really just spreading the dirt around rather than getting any of it up, he was almost certain the ground would be sticky even if you couldn't see the dark soda colour on the floor anymore with it being mixed into the dirt everywhere already, it was suddenly no wonder the place was falling apart.

"W- Well I'm the night guard here first off, the name's Mike. Secondly I was just wondering if I could give you some help. No one's touched the stage yet and I know you probably want to get out of here as soon as possible," Mike said, starting out a little shaky before gaining some confidence. The man stared at him like he was crazy for a moment before recovering.

"Uh- yeah that would be great, actually. Extra supplies are in the closet close to your security office," the man said pointing towards the hallway before returning to his work.

Mike walked over and pulled out a bucket, mop, and rag. He poured some cleaner into the bucket and walked towards the bathroom to fill it up. Going passed the cleaners he frowned, over hearing some of their conversation.

"Nice kid, too bad he'll probably not last the night. He's clearly not right in the head if he didn't leave this job after the first night he survived," the older man said.

"I'm just sad we'll be here for hours scrubbing his blood off the backroom floor when he does get caught by those monstrosities. You know I hate this place," the younger man grunted uncaringly.

Mike tensed up before sighing. He wouldn't let what they were saying get to him. Maybe he wasn't the most sane person in the world for staying at this job, but still, he would survive. He wouldn't need to be… cleaned off of the backroom's floor. The thought made him swallow thickly before he pushed it out of his head as he reached the bathroom sink and turned on the faucet for the moment, partially filling the bucket before returning to the party room.

Climbing on stage he turned towards the animatronics first. The stage was surprisingly not as bad as they were, the smell of rotting food coming off of them. He gagged as he stepped towards Bonnie, setting down the bucket and reaching for the rag.

"Sorry Bonnie, it's not you. Well- it is. But it's not your fault. I mean, kids get rowdy and throw stuff. I mean- they really shouldn't. It almost looks like no one's bothered cleaning you in years. Smells like it too," He rambled as scrubbed at the most stained patches of fur, making sure not to get excess water anywhere, unsure as to whether or not it would affect the animatronic poorly or not. Idly he wondered if Bonnie knew what a mess he was, since he was in the supply closet so often. After about ten minutes of scrubbing down Bonnie he stepped back and sighed.

"Well, it's not the best, but we have limited time. At least you don't smell like a dumpster anymore," he said in a defeated tone. "Now onto Chica, don't worry Freddy, I'll get to you too. Being the gentleman or rather, gentlebear that you are, I'm sure you hate the state you're in immensely," He joked, nervously smiling.

Mike moved quickly as he cleaned Chica, scrubbing stains and grimacing as he pulled bits of dried dough out of her feathers. "Have you actually been making pizza all night Chica? I mean, there is dough all in your feathers and flour too… huh. I didn't think you actually were doing anything in the kitchen other than moving pans around," he said, still scrubbing away and pulling out bits of the dry dough.

"There, that's a bit better. Now onto the big guy," he said with a faint smile, forgetting for the moment that the three robots in front of him had been trying to kill him the past two nights.

He worked fast on Freddy, noticing that it was nearing eleven-thirty. He frowned at the amount of handprints on Freddy and the thinner patches of fur. "I guess the day guard isn't really doing his job, huh Freddy? I mean, clearly some kids have been getting rough with you guys," he said with a frown, rubbing away the last saucy hand print he could find.

"Alright guys, that's all for tonight I guess. Not sure if you can hear me, probably not but- If you could just not step things up tonight that would be great. If you could avoid killing me for another night that would be amazing," he said weakly. There was no way in his mind that this would even remotely work. "Ugh I might just be going crazy," he muttered to himself.

He shook his head and quickly went over the stage with the mop. He stopped when the cleaners announced they were down for the night. Looking at his watch he saw it was getting close to midnight, he disposed of the water and returned the bucket and mop to the supply closet quickly, knowing his time of being safe was coming to an end. He turned to go down to his office but turned at the last moment, walking briskly into Pirates Cove.

It was dark, but he could make out the shape of Foxy, leaning up against the aged boat set on stage. He was a little shaky, going near the animatronic that had come the closest to killing him, but he steeled himself as he knelt down.

"Hey Foxy," he began, pulling on a nervous smile. "I'm glad to see you doing much better. It seems Morg fixed your jaw, hopefully she'll be able to take a look at all you guys soon. So please- please," he cut himself off, realising that he didn't just want Foxy not to kill him. Well he wanted that of course, but he also wanted Foxy to remember him. He wanted his suspicions to be true about the animatronics, because back then their friendship seemed so real.

He never was one to deny his weaknesses, and making friends was definitely one of them. However, back before '87, when the animatronics were allowed to have direct contact with the children, they had seemed so alive. They listened, spoke to them, played with them, they were better friends than the few children he and his sister had gotten along with. They weren't like adults, who didn't understand them and talked down to them, they were just- there was just something about them. So he hoped, hoped that the feelings he had back then, and even now, weren't lies he told himself.

He sat there for a moment, his watch beeping at five minutes to midnight causing him to sigh. Hesitantly he reached out to Foxy, fingers just brushing the red fur on the animatronics' cheek before pulling back again as the human shook his head. Pushing himself up he stood and turned away from the Fox with another quiet sigh. His hand came up to rub his face for a moment in a tired movement.

"I really must be going crazy," he said to himself before walking out of Pirate's Cove, pausing after moving the curtains aside. He glanced back at Foxy sadly before letting them flutter closed. Running back to the security office he panted, thankful he had enough sense not to say any longer as the clock struck midnight. The odds of him dying sometime tonight were probably high enough.

* * *

It was a strange start to another night for all of the animatronics. The band, however, were far more confused than Foxy. They normally weren't fully online before the game began, since most of the night cleaning staff stayed away from them, but that night had been different. A man has cleaned them off, a rare occurrence in itself, but this one actually talked to them. He seemed nervous, a little frightened sure, but he hadn't let that stop him from doing his job and just talking to them either.

Still, what he said was a little strange. It was almost as if he were familiar with all of them, like one of the children maybe? Had he been here as a child maybe? Whatever it was, all of the members of the band felt at least a little grateful to him. Maybe if they were cleaned more often they'd get more customers, maybe they could return the pizzeria to the glory days. He had sure been strange though, taking about not killing him. Why would they kill him? No humans stayed in the pizzeria after dark. They brushed off thought, believing the man to be strange.

Chica, however that was thinking rather hard about what the man had said to her rather than just brushing it off like the other two. How had he known about her baking? Even with the dried bits of dough that she had stuck on her, that wasn't the logical conclusion adults came to. It was odd, enough so that she was so focused on it that she hadn't even moved when midnight had come around.

Bonnie, however was off the stage, moving to the middle of the party room. He decided he would stay there a few minutes before moving. His plans, however were disrupted when Foxy walked out of Pirate's Cove. All three animatronics looked at him, none speaking for a moment. It was a little strange, to see Foxy out of Pirate's Cove for more than just the game, but it happened every now and then. Typically if he needed to say something he just called out to them from the cove.

"Oh hey Foxy, watcha doin' out of the cove?" Bonnie asked, trying to show as little interest in the answer as possible. He was sure the pirate was just trying to throw him off his game, since they made that bet the night before. Sure they didn't bet anything, but it was a matter of pride.

"We be makin' a grave mistake lad. I had a visitor to the cove today," Foxy began before both Freddy and Bonnie cut him off.

"A visitor to the cove?"

"Oh come off it-"

"One of me crew. First Mate Morganna came to the cove today, all grown up and a right adult at that, but she had a reason ta come here other than to visit old Foxy. The Endoskeleton isn't an Endo this time. The game we've been playin'? We've been playin' it with little Mikey, her twin if you remember," Foxy said trying to get to the point before he was cut off again.

"Tch, you're just trying to distract me. I don't blame you for not wanting to lose to me again Fox, but saying that is going too far. None of the children ever come back here as adults. Not after '87," Bonnie said with a narrowing of his eyes.

"Bonnie!" Both Chica and Freddy admonished the rabbit at the same time. Out of the three, it was Bonnie that tended to hit low when irritated or angered.

"Are you sure Foxy? Why would they suddenly bring a human into the office? Plus you've seen it too, right? That is definitely an Endo in the office," Freddy said calmly, pointing out what they all knew.

"Yeah so stop trying to distract me. It's already 1 am. I am not going to lose to you again Foxy. You got the last Endo, just barely might I add! If we hadn't stepped up our game that day you wouldn't have had that second run that led you to get it," Bonnie complained, arms folding in a pose that practically screamed he was pouting.

"I am tellin' you land lubbers that the game don't matter at the moment. Go ahead, don't take Cap'n Foxy's word for it, but you've been havin' some doubts about that new Endo, right? The crying? Why would they ever make a crying animatronic, we're supposed ta help the children stop cryin', not cry with 'em. Why would I lie about this?" Foxy asked, his voice serious and final.

A few moments of tense silence stretched out between the animatronics before it was interrupted by a loud scream, coming from the security room.

Before any of the other animatronics could react, Foxy was running down the west hall. Bonnie followed him, while Freddy and Chica took their normal route down the east hall. Both parties were met with closed doors. Looking into the office they were met with the same slightly distressing sight.

What they saw was and Endo skeleton on the ground, clutching it's head and puling at invisible hair. However, Foxy's vision wavered, seeing both an Endoskeleton and the young man who'd visited his cove, his Mikey. They could all hear ragged breathing and frantic rambling.

"It's me. It's me. It's me. I-" Mikey repeated the sentence over and over before finally cutting off with another alarming choking sound.

Foxy twitched, quickly tapping his hook against the glass window in a frantic manner, concerned for the human inside.

"Mikey. It be me, yer ol' friend Foxy. Please open up the door; we didn't know it were you in there Mikey. I didn't realise it until yer sister came visiting. Please believe me Mikey, I just want to help you," Foxy spoke, speaking loud enough to be heard through the door, but still softly enough so that perhaps the man would believe him.

Bonnie shifted beside the Fox, feeling a terrible feeling of dread settle in his mind. His processor was going a mile a minute as he watched the Fox plead with the Endo he saw in the office. It- Foxy was right, it couldn't be an Endo, no Endo would react like that. Though what the human was reacting to was another matter, since they'd all been in the party room before the man had screamed.

In the other hallway Freddy and Chica both watched the endo in concern, though Chica's vision slightly wavered. Her thoughts were brought back to the man who had cleaned them up, speaking to them and saying something about her cooking at night that had confused her.

"Freddy! I think that's the man who cleaned us up earlier. I- he talked about my cooking and it confused me, but if he's here at night, that explains it," she said quickly, almost excited about her discovery. She could see a faint vision of the man from before now, though it was almost like it was over top of the endoskeleton. It was strange, but she was sure that the faint vision was the correct one, maybe something was wrong with her optics.

Freddy tilted his head, not seeing anything but the endo, but not discounting the theory. He hadn't really paid much attention to what the man was saying at first, tuning in only when he'd turned his attention to Freddy himself. The man had seemed like a fine person, and he was grateful for being cleaned up, but he still only saw an endo in front of him, even when trying to think of the man from earlier. Even seeing an endoskeleton rather than a human, it seemed more and more possible that it wasn't an endo in front of him, malfunctions wouldn't manifest them like this. Maybe leaking, but actual crying, panting, and the occasional dry heave? He doubted an endo would have such a capability. Chica and Freddy both tried to get his attention somehow, taping on the window and taking Foxy's lead in trying to talk to him.

The man inside didn't respond to anything though, sobbing and heaving breathes being the only noises coming out of the office until his body just slumped forward on the floor, most likely passed out after hyperventilating so badly. Chica and Freddy tried to bang on the door a few times, attempting to wake the man, but to no avail. They heard Bonnie and Foxy trying on the other side and shook their heads, it wasn't working.

After another few minutes of trying they stopped and instead met up with Foxy and Bonnie in the west hall.

"I- I don't understand why they'd put a human back here after all the Endo's," Freddy began, glancing through the window in concern again. "It's clear, however that that is no Endo. I don't think he's going to wake up before the power goes out."

"What's wrong with him? Do you think he passed out cause he was hungry? Humans do that right?" Chica asked, wondering if she should go and try to make a pizza for him before the power cut out.

"I heard that they do, but not often. I wonder what's wrong with him," Bonnie said in a flippant manner, though it was clear he was rather concerned by the fact that he hadn't wandered from the hallway.

"There's nothing wrong with Mikey! Somethin' frightened the lad. He was always faint hearted and had these breathy attacks when he felt too much," Foxy said, motioning towards his chest.

"Foxy, you said that it's Mikey in there, right? Mikey as in the one that had a sister named Morg something?" Chica asked, feathered fingers tapping the window idly.

"Aye lass, that be the one. Why?" Foxy answered distractedly, his focus still decidedly on Mike's form in the office.

"Okay. I'm going to go make him a pizza real quick. I remember he liked mushrooms. Maybe it will make the power go out faster so we can make sure he's okay," she replied clapping her hands together.

"Chica, food doesn't solve everything," Freddy began before being cut off.

"I know that. But it'll be step one to making him feel better and making up these past few nights to him. I mean- we frightened him really badly right? So we gotta say we're sorry and make it up to him somehow, even if it was some malfunction on our parts," she said with a nod.

"That's very thoughtful missy. I'll help you out in that case, get this pizza out as quick as we can before the power shuts out," Freddy said, he was actually quite proud of Chica's idea. He was trying not to give much power to the thoughts of why they saw Mikey as a Endo, when it was now clear he was not. It was concerning and frightening that their programming could become so bugged. And to attack a human that they'd known and entertained as a child? He could feel the guilt bubble up over all other processes, weighing down what was his equivalent of a conscious. He'd have to talk with Foxy later, after all it was the fox that had somehow overcome the strange glitch in their programming.

With Freddy and Chica heading off to the kitchen, that left just Foxy and Bonnie in the hallway. Bonnie reached out and put a heavy paw on the other animatronics' shoulder.

"I'm sorry about what I said. I mean- he does look like an Endo for some reason. I just- I'm sure he'll be okay," Bonnie said, in a rare attempt to be supportive rather than abrasive as he normally could be.

"Thanks lad. I really hope you're right," the fox replied, his gaze still not leaving Mike's form. There was nothing he could do to help until the power ran out or Mike regained consciousness. He didn't care which happened, he just wanted his first matey to be alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for your continued support of your story! I know my story is far from perfect, even with me rereading through everything, but I really hope you enjoy it none the less. Please feel free to let me know if you spot mistakes, I always end up over looking something in the end. u.u Anyway I really appreciate all your comments and kudos. As always I hope that your day or night is wonderful!


	6. Dawn of Understanding

Waking up after passing out was the same as always, like wading through a thick liquid before reaching the surface to breathe. He almost always came out of his panic attacks with a sudden gasp, like he'd been holding his breath for a long time, and this time was no different. Confused and managing to breath calmly took up his thoughts for the first few moments of being awake before his hearing started working and sounds filtered in, muddled at first before he could understand what he was hearing.

"Oh! Lookie, he's awake!" A slightly metallic echoed female voice sounded nearby. His other senses slowly flooded back to him, the smell of pizza filling his nose, causing him to suddenly remember where he was. Freddy's he was at Freddy's and he'd passed out. Had- had he been caught then? He tried to look around, but it was dark, except for a pair of glowing yellow eyes directly above him, making him freeze and stop breathing. He was caught, and the mere thought paralyzed him for a moment.

Regaining his senses again he tried to quickly pull away, hoping he could maybe somehow get away from the robots, all while knowing it was hopeless. His breathing becoming shaky and his limbs starting tremble, unable to do much else than feel the growing panic start up again.

"Don't move lad, we aren't going to hurt you," Foxy started off, speaking as softly as he could, trying to comfort and settle him down before he worked himself up too badly. It was clear that Mike hadn't ever gotten over the panic attacks he had as a kid, though he appeared to have more control now than he did then, since it hadn't overcome him yet.

"What?" Mike asked confused, after all the animatronics had tried to kill him the past two nights, why was now any different? The animatronic he hadn't known about, an older version of Freddy perhaps, had gotten him. The golden Freddy came into the room, slipping in before he got both doors down, and then… and then what? He couldn't remember. His mind was totally blank after that point, so he could guess what had happened.

"You passed out lad. You don't know what happened do ye?" Foxy asked for a moment before shaking his head. "Never you mind that question. Questions be for later. I just want ta let you know yer safe with us Mikey. We didn't- we didn't know it was you back here. There's only been the endos before," Fox said quickly, wanting to impart the fact that they weren't going to hurt him as the first order of business. He had yet to admit to himself that the endos might've been human, firmy choosing not to think about it at all ad instead focusing on Mike.

"Yeah! Our optics must've been malfunctioning or something, cause until tonight you looked like an endoskeleton Michael," Chica chimed up. Crouching down close by, her eyes his indicator to where she was. He flinched a bit when she got closer, but their words were a bit comforting. Did they remember him somehow? Or did they just realise their mistake? But then they knew his name… though he did have a name tag. Though they were speaking to him so familiarly, trying to comfort him as if they did remember.

"You remember me?" He asked uncertainly.

"Yeah, we remember you and that sister of yours. Though you're all grown up now," Bonnie spoke this time, but he remained in the door way of the office, not wanting to crowd the obviously still nervous guard. "You're still a scaredy cat, huh?"

"I- I'm not," Mike protested at the words, brows furrowing in a grimace. "You guys tried to kill me! Anyone would be scared!"

"We weren't trying to kill you Michael. We just- we are sorry. You really did look like a endo. You still do to me. Though Foxy and Chica see you for who you are apparently. It's a strange glitch," Freddy said, pausing for continuing. Mike couldn't see him from where he was, but each word lit up Freddy's face. "But like I said, we really are sorry Michael. We never met for any of this to happen."

"We didn't lad, you have ta believe us, we'd never hurt ye on purpose," Foxy finally spoke up again, sincerity coating his every word.

Mike still felt tense, scared despite the words that were spoken, but he was starting to feel bad about it. Sure it was a justified reaction, since he was talking to his would be murderers, but he could tell that they genuinely felt bad. Were they- was he right about them then?

"Oh! Michael, I made you some pizza before the power went out. To maybe make you feel better? It's your favourite, mushroom pizza with extra cheese!" Chica said, moving the pizza from the desk to the floor beside Mike so that he could reach for a piece without falling out of Foxy's arms.

"Here lad, lets sit you up then." Foxy said, maneuvering the man into a sitting position gently, letting Mike sit up against his chest. Sure he wasn't in the greatest condition, but he was still rather sturdy for not having any maintenance like the rest of the group.

"Y-you guys really remember me?" Mike asked again, his voice trembling with the hope he felt, tears of relief welling up in his eyes, though he kept them from spilling.

"Of course, I wouldn't forget one of my first Mateys," Foxy said gently.

"Yeah, and we wouldn't forget you either! You were such a sweet child. Though I could do with forgetting your sister," Chica said, adding the last bit as a small joke and feeling good when Mike laughed.

"You're still sore because she thought you were a duck?" He said, still laughing a small bit.

"I am a chicken! Not a duck. It's just embarrassing that she mistook me for a duck," Chica said with a huff.

Mike couldn't help but laugh, but that was the seal that broke open the dam that held back his tears. He couldn't help the sob that burst through his laughter; he was just so relieved that he wasn't going to be killed. Sure he didn't have the greatest life, but he was figuring it out. Now that he wasn't in danger of being killed he felt so much lighter, as if a crippling weight was finally lifted off of him and he could breathe easy again. After spending so much time in darkness, it was almost as if light was finally flooding in after so much hardship.

"Lad? Are you alright lad?" Foxy asked in concern as the man cried again.

"Yeah," Mike said still sniffling as a few more tears fell down his face. "I'm just- I'm just so relieved that you remember me." He left out the 'and that you didn't kill me,' part, and though it went unsaid, they could all hear it in the air. Guilt filling the animatronics metaphorical hearts again.

"Are you sure you're alright son? You're still shaking," Freddy pointed out, speaking again, his face lighting up with each word again, though Mike could see it now. For a moment the guard wondered if it was a default setting for the bear's face to lit up in the dark or not, the thought distracting him from his nervousness. The Bear stood back, actually out of the room entirely but still able to see from where he stood that the human was still quite wound up, it was concerning to him.

Mike swallowed, nodding a bit nervously. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just the remnants of adrenaline making me a bit shaky," he said, attempting to brush off the concern.

Bonnie stood silent, checking the time on the hard to read analog clock hanging on the wall. It was almost six and for that he was grateful. He actually felt… well really bad for not believing Foxy, especially so after seeing how worked up the Fox got seeing the man unconscious and not knowing the reason why.

Besides that, he remembered the twins too. Liked them both well enough even if Foxy was their favourite. He got along with Morganna more than Mikey, but that was probably because she was more outspoken and mischievous. Still, he liked Mikey back then too. He really was a sweet boy, cheering the rabbit up when children called him a girl upon seeing him.

"It's six o'clock guys. Mikey should probably get going, especially since that sister of his is probably waiting for him. There was that lady who gave us that scary look just before close yesterday, remember? That must have been her," Bonnie said, pushing away thoughts of guilt. Mikey laughed at his comment, making Bonnie crack a smile.

"I don't doubt that was her," he said, chuckling a small bit still.

"You just got a scary look Bonnie lad. She fixed me up while spouting some intimidating threats with a few different scary looks," Foxy said, smiling when Mike laughed again.

A loud hum was heard as lights snapped back on with a crack of electricity that made Mike flinch. It was the opposite of the power going out, but sounded almost dangerous.

"Bonnie's right though, I better get going." He said as he pulled himself off of Foxy and shakily to his feet. Foxy stood and steadied him quickly, and he gave the Fox a smile in thanks.

"Careful there lad," he said, not letting go of the man's arm until he was steady. "Will… Will we be seein' you again tonight?"

Mike frowned for a moment, wondering why the pirate would think he'd just leave after finding out they remembered him. As long as they didn't go back to trying to kill him, he would stay.

"Of course I'll be back," he said with a smile, before pausing, his smile turning shaky and a bit nervous. "I mean, as long as you don't try to stuff me in a suit again, alright?"

"We won't, I mean, just make sure you talk. Me and Freddy still see you as an endoskeleton, but we'll remember your voice," Bonnie spoke up again. Both Chica and Freddy nodded at his words, agreeing with them fully. They wouldn't let an incident like this happen again with Michael at least. All of the animatronics were firmly against thinking that any of the past endos could have been human, it just couldn't be possible. The restaurant would have been shut down if that was the case, wouldn't it have been?

"Of course we won't matey. The captain doesn't lie," Foxy said with a nod, finally deeming the man steady enough to stand on his own and pulled away. "Ol' Foxy won't let anything happen to ye, and not just because 'o your sister's threats."

Mike smiled again and nodded, "Thanks guys. I- I can't trust you fully yet, but I can try. What you did, it really messed me up, and I can't just forgive and forget. I know it's not fully your faults, but… just give me some time. I'll be back tonight."

"That's fine lad, just trying is enough for us. We'll see you tonight," Foxy answered for all of them, though they all nodded as well.

"Oh! Don't forget the pizza I made for you Michael!" Chica said, picking up the box from where she'd put it, a bit disappointed he hadn't ate any of it immediately, but understanding that they all had to talk.

"Thanks Chica. I'll eat it when I get home before I go to bed. I'm sure it's wonderful," he replied with a smile that made all of the animatronics smiled. It was nice, interacting with someone who was considerate towards them and their feelings. Someone who they'd terrified and still treated them with respect rather than contempt. Sure Mike was nervous and scared, but as he said, anyone would be. They understood and each of them vowed to make it up to the man somehow.

With that thought in mind and knowing that they'd have the night to see him again they all quickly moved to get back into their places before they went offline, Mike made sure that they each made it to their proper places before finally leaving.

On his way out he once again ran into the day manager, he'd never learned her name, but he knew her shocked face. He opened the door for her again, though she paused before fully stepping through the door way, turning to him.

"Uhh- how was your night?" She asked, not looking him in the eye. He wondered how much she knew about the night shift, how much she was involved with the clean up of the night guards that didn't make it out of the job alive.

"It was fine," he said, his voice steady for once. His body still trembled a bit, though it was just the aftermath of the night, he wasn't scared anymore. Nervous yes, since he was still unsure as to why the animatronics' had acted the way they had, and unsure if they would remember this night fully, but he felt that they would. It would just be a matter of getting over what had happened.

"That's- that's good," she stuttered, surprised by the answer. "Have a good day then."

With that she was in the building and going back towards the office, nothing else said. Mike shook his head, heading towards his car. Bonnie had been right, he'd better get home to call his sister before she went on a rampage trying to make sure he was okay. People thought it was cute when he called her The Dragon, but in truth it was because she protected what she considered hers like one. Over protective and with a fiery temper, she wouldn't hesitate to chew him out if he didn't lift her worries. That was evident enough by her lecture the day before and that was something he wanted to avoid for a while at least.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry about getting things out very late recently. I'm still going through everything, editing what I notice is wrong, but again I'm pretty bad at seeing my own mistakes at times. Still, I really hope you've been enjoying the story! More will be coming on AO3 at a faster pace. Thank you again for the kudos and comments! They really make my day. ^^ As always I really hope your day or night is a wonderful one.


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